Tag Archives: David Lujan

To say the 2010 regular legislative session was different than the 2009 session would be an understatement of epic proportions. Gone was the Senate’s 2009 moratorium on hearing bills until after the budget work was completed. Gone, too, was the combative relationship between legislative leaders and Gov. Jan Brewer.

A recent guest opinion in the Arizona Capitol Times said: “The government shouldn’t pick winners and losers when it comes to military contractors; the marketplace should.” I could not agree more. However, I must disagree with the author’s statement about Congress being a champion for competition in the case of the Joint Strike Fighter (F-35). In fact, it has been just the opposite.

During her first 13 months on the Ninth Floor, Gov. Jan Brewer said repeatedly that it would be devastating to balance the budget by shortchanging the public school system, and she has opposed - and even vetoed - legislation that would have led to massive reductions in education funding.

Secret plotting to balance Arizona's wildly out-of-whack budget got started in an east Phoenix restaurant best described as a hole-in-the- wall.
What better place than a hole-in-the-wall to work on a budget full of holes?

For the first time in at least six years, the annual release of budget plans by the Arizona Legislature and the governor didn't result in bickering.
Of course, it helps that the legislative Republican majority didn't put out anything even closely resembling a budget plan this year.

A whispered riddle is sweeping the halls of the Capitol: In an election year, Democrats and Republicans like to emphasize their differences, but this year, they'll probably have to cooperate to solve Arizona's massive budget problems.

Assistant Attorney General Vince Rabago filed on Jan. 15 to run for attorney general.
Rabago, a prosecutor at the attorney general's Tucson office, filed to run as a traditionally funded candidate. He is the third Democrat to jump into the race.